Ryan Braun wins appeal of drug violation, will not be suspended via Larry Brown Sports. 

Here’s what Larry Brown writes about Braun successfully appealing his PED test results:

Reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun has beaten the system. The Brewers outfielder will not be suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for a violation of the league’s drug policy, according to Tom Haudricourt of theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Haudricourt writes “Someone familiar with the decision said the appeal went Braun’s way not so much on contesting the result of the test but the testing process itself, some kind of technicality.”

Braun reportedly tested positive for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone during the playoffs. He accepted his MVP award and the MLB writers had no plans to re-vote on the award.

Braun is expected to report to spring training on Friday. He was the first of 13 players to successfully appeal a drug suspension case.

LBS goes on to give more details about the appeal and the MLB’s reaction, but the only real important news is that Braun successfully appealed the test results and his 50-game suspension and he will be eligible to play at the start of the season. 

Fantasy geeks, set up your draft boards accordingly. 

@Suga_Shane

“Like I say, I haven’t talked to them, but I prefer not to use [El Hombre]. I still have the same respect for him as I had, not just for what he’s done in baseball but for what he did for his country. That’s something you have to appreciate.”

- Albert Pujols on being marketed with Stan “The Man” Musial’s Spanish moniker.

(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times / February 22, 2012)

badspringtrainingtwitpics:

“OOOOH LOOGIT ME I INSTAGRAMMED IT!” You’ll never guess which market Jaymee Sire covers. Thanks for that grainy wrinkle, Jaymee!

We can get down with Bad Spring Training Twitpics.

byronic:

Hooray for spring training!
via @MLB twitter

siphotos:

Gary Carter passed away this afternoon at age 57. The catcher played for four teams during his 19-year career (Expos, Mets, Giants, Dodgers) and made the all-star team 11 times. (Andrew C. Bernstein/Getty Images)

GALLERY: Rare Photos of Gary Carter

Countdown to Opening Day!

Red Sox Truck Day!

(Steve Silva / Globe Staff)

This would go straight to DVD. It might even skip DVD and go directly to VHS. 

(Source: drunkonstevphen)

2012

(Source: mightyflynn)

Moneyball 2012

By Aaron Sorkin & Sean Keane

(SCENE: The ramshackle Oakland front office’s conference room. Oakland scouts fidget nervously, staring at their own pagers rather than each other. Billy Beane bursts into the conference room waving a printout.)

Billy Beane: Guys, you’re still trying to replace Gio Gonzalez. I told you we can’t do it. We can’t do it. Now what we might be able to do is recreate him, in the field of social media.

Grady Fuson: The field of what?

Billy Beane: No one is talking about this team as contenders, but the real problem is no one is talking about this team, at all. We haven’t been a trending topic since Dallas Braden’s perfect game.

Ron Hopkins: What’s a Trending topic?

Billy Beane: Peter, get Wikipedia open for Ron. Gonzalez has 19,586 followers on Twitter. Andrew Bailey has 11,835 followers. Trevor Cahill is not on Twitter, but his Facebook fan page has 2,128 likes. What’s the total?

(He snaps his finger and points to Peter )

Peter Brand: Do you want me to speak?

Billy Beane: When I point to you, yeah. Why couldn’t Milton Bradley have been like you?

Peter Brand: Thirty three five forty-nine.

Billy Beane: Divided by three.

(Billy snaps his finger again)

Peter Brand: Eleven one eight three.

Billy Beane: That’s what we’re looking for. Three ball players whose average Klout score is…

Peter Brand: Sixty-three!

Billy Beane: Now here’s who we want. @LoMoMarlins, AKA Logan Morrison.

Ron Hopkins: Logan Morrison! That guy’s a head case.

Grady Fuson: The Marlins sent him to the minors last year even though he had 17 home runs.

Billy Beane: And he has 88,700 followers! Number two, @JoseCanseco.

Grady Fuson: Jose Canseco! Come on, Billy! He’s 47 years old!

Ron Hopkins: He proposed to Lady Gaga!

Grady Fuson:  Didn’t he box a kangaroo on pay-per-view?

Billy Beane: Well, his social media reach is all we’re looking at here.

Ron Hopkins: Why do you like this idiot?

Billy Beane: Peter?

Peter Brand: (shrugs) 400,000 followers, 2,000 Tweets. He gets online.

Billy Beane: Number Three, @RobDelaney.

Grady Fuson: For crissakes Billy, he’s not even a baseball player!

Billy Beane: Peter’s computer says Delaney’s received over 70,000 “Favorites,” some of his stuff has been retweeted over 6,00 times, and he looks good in baseball pants.

Ron Hopkins: Billy, we’re not selling jeans here.

Billy Beane: Maybe we are selling jeans. If we have players with followers, we can use sponsored tweets. We make a deal with Levi’s, and we might earn enough to afford hot water in the locker room showers. They’ll like him for the same reason we like him. Because…?

The Scouts: He gets online.

Billy Beane: He gets online!

Grady Fuson: So he Tweets a lot.

Billy Beane: He gets online a lot. Do I care if it’s a blog or a Facebook status update? Do I, Pete?

Peter Brand: You do not. Hey, who do I talk to about getting my character’s name changed?

Billy Beane:  Fausto Carmona.

This man runs the MLB, sadly. Bud Selig Can’t Hear You: A Gallery

Have you seen a Bob around here lately?

ilovecharts:

R.I.P. Bobs

As tantalizing as Montero’s show of Yankee Stadium power was in September when he finally arrived from the minors, this was a trade that Cashman had to make. In fact, considering how much more the Yankees need a No. 2 starter at the moment than another big bat, this just might turn out to be the best trade Cashman ever makes.

The Yankees set to deal Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda.

More details & analysis to come later. Both teams are also swapping other, lesser known, prospects.

oldtimefamilybaseball:

Just how does Verlander dial it up to 100 so consistently? Easy, fire sauce. As relayed by MLive, Verlander told Conan about his pre-start eating habits:

“The night before, as you can tell by my amazing physique, I eat Taco Bell,” Verlander said. “Every night. At home. Every start. Yes. You’re welcome, Taco Bell. But it’s true.”

Not only does he eat at Taco Bell, he has a standing order.

“The same thing every time,” he said. “Three crunchy taco supremes, no tomato, a cheesy gordita crunch and a Mexican pizza, no tomato. Every time.”